Makhan-Vada of Dholpur: A Gastronomical Delight

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Having deeply enrooted into my mind that I would use this official trip to also satiate my gastronomical inquisitiveness besides doing some work I lost no time enquiring where can I find Makhan-Vada at Dholpur (Dhavalpur), as soon as I reached Dholpur, another district in Rajasthan and my new work location.

The suggestion about Dholpur’s must-eat delicacy had been provided by the wonderful Government School Master I met in Bharatpur who had told me about the famous sweet Bistarband of Bharatpur. But to my dismay most of the people I met in Dholpur were unaware of the sweet called Makhan-Vada.

That was strange! If the people of a town or a city don’t know what’s the best thing to eat in their town’s kitchen, well, then the city never had any gastronomical history. Or yet worse, nobody ever bothered to archive it either!

I found a shop nearby to the District Collector's office where the shop owner acknowledged that Makhan-Vada is a local delicacy but they don’t make it. Neither they were aware of anybody else in Dholpur making such a sweet. Though I took the latter statement with a pinch of salt yet I asked them what’s their specialty. The owner replied that they make Balu-Shahi which is similar to Makhan-Vada. Well, I decided to try it out. It tasted no different from the ones I had tested elsewhere in India.

Albeit a tinge disappointed I continued my quest for Makhan-Vada enquiring anyone and everyone right from the Tehsildar or the accountant clerk (during tea breaks) in the Collector's office to the boiled-egg selling vendor and the auto rickshaw driver on the street about Makhan-Vada. Just as the thought began to sink in me that my culinary adventures would end here at Dholpur the fortunes turned! One of the clerks told me that he knew about the sweet, Makhan-Vada. But hardly anybody makes it nowadays except the Sirmathura Misthan Bhandar near Lal Bazaar which also happened to be the first sweet shop in Dholpur.

My joys knew no bound! As soon as the day ended I joined with the other two gastronomical enthusiasts of my team and started for Lal Bazaar. I peered out of the auto rickshaw at the shop hoardings which declared that we were in Lal Bazaar. I assumed that the Sirmathura Misthan Bhandar must be near and tried in vain to smell the delicacies in the air.

Sirmathura Misthan Bhandar bore an old tired look. A look which wouldn't visually excite your taste buds unless you are also aware of what to expect inside. I enquired if there is a sweet called Makhan-Vada. The shop owner gave an unusually warm smile and with a nod replied, “Yes, there it is”.

Very soon I would find out the reason behind that unusually warm smile!

I was disappointed to see that it looked just like a Balu-Shahi yet I decided to focus on the taste lifting it from the ordinary newspaper plate it was served in. As I put the Makhan-Vada into my mouth it melted effortlessly into soft crumbs of a perfect mild sweetness which required no further chewing upon. It smoothly disintegrated squeezing out the sugary syrup through its pores into the oral cavity over my taste buds. I could feel the taste and the scent of the ghee (pure clarified butter) as I took further bites.

Makhan-Vada

Gaining my senses out of the gastronomical spell as the Makhan-Vada settled into my soul I enquired with the shop keeper about how it came to be known as Makhan-Vada. What transpired made all the pieces fall into place as to why most of the inhabitants of Dholpur were unaware of Makhan-Vada and why the shop keeper greeted me with an unusually warm smile.

The sweet I had just tasted was not Makhan-Vada. Instead it was the Balu-Shahi! Did he just trick me?

Well, not exactly. Balu-Shahi at Sirmathura Misthan Bhandar was the gastronomical successor to Makhan-Vada. It retained the same art and taste of its predecessor Makhan-Vada.

But where is Makhan-Vada then? I came looking for that. The shopkeeper further explained that “Makhan-Vada has been discontinued as a sweet for quiet long ago. It used to be a bigger version of the current Balu-Shahi in the 1950s when this shop was started by my grandfather. However, it used to be too soft to be taken in a parcel as it would break into finer crumbs. Hence innovating upon the original Makhan-Vada we came up with a smaller version renaming it as Balu-Shahi to keep with the local parlance although retaining the same culinary process in its preparation and thereby the taste”.

He went onto add, “The preparation involves kneading high quality refined wheat mixed with milk and pure ghee (clarified butter). Thereafter it is broken down into small oval lumps and deep fried in pure ghee. It is then dipped into a sugar or jaggery syrup for hours so that the sweetness soaks into the different layers of the oval lump making it softer. Hence the name Makhan-Vada as it melts like a slice of butter in your mouth”. 

There it was! The Makhan-Vada owed its melting sensation to the subtle ingredients and an equally subtle preparation. In contrast, the Balu-Shahis were a little harder to be chewed upon and thereby stood no chance against its nomenclature predecessor.

Sirmathura Misthan Bhandar

Sirmathura Misthan Bhandar referring Makhan-Vada as Balu-Shahi

Sirmathura Misthan Bhandar owes its name to a place called Sirmathura from where its founder hailed. As per the Wikipedia, Sirmathura is a place of historical significance in the history of India as it provided the red sandstone of which great architectural marvels like the Delhi Red Fort and the Humayun’s Tomb are built.  It’s high time that it should also be credited to the innovation of the sweet Makhan-Vada.

Though by and large (and quiet unjustifiably to my opinion) Makhan-Vada is now referred to as Balu-Shahi even by its apparent inventors, I would still prefer to call it Makhan-Vada!

A gastronomical delight!

What's in a name? That which we call a Makhan-Vada

By any other word (Balu-Shahi) would taste as delicious !